FEATURED ARTICLES ABOUT EAST TIMOR - PAGE 4

The commander of British forces in East Timor on Tuesday offered reassurance to thousands of refugees hiding in the hills that it was safe to return home to the devastated capital, Dili. But he had a different message for pro-independence guerrillas, telling them to stay put for now. Brig. David Richards commended the guerrillas, known as Falintil, for showing restraint so far and remaining mostly in their assigned camps even as Indonesia's departing troops and their militia proxies embarked on a campaign of killing and arson after the announcement of East Timor's overwhelming vote for independence 3 1/2 weeks ago. "They've been terribly sensible," Richards said after meeting with Falintil commanders in Dare.

With reports of killings and forced deportations emerging from East Timor, Indonesia President B.J. Habibie on Monday agreed to the creation of an international commission to investigate possible atrocities, the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights said. Mary Robinson, the U.N. commissioner, met with Habibie on Monday and said he had accepted a proposal for Indonesian and foreign officials to join in "a commission of inquiry, a commission of experts to look at the evidence of human rights violations."

By ELIZABETH BECKER and PHILIP SHENON The New York Times, September 9, 1999

The United States is resisting direct threats of economic or military sanctions against Indonesia over the chaos in East Timor in hopes of preserving its relationship with that vast archipelago nation, even as the Clinton administration protests the chaos that has left hundreds of Timorese dead, senior officials said. The administration, these officials said, has made the calculation that the United States must put its relationship with Indonesia, a mineral-rich nation of more than 200 million people, ahead of its concern over the political fate of East Timor, a tiny, impoverished territory of 800,000 people that is seeking independence.

JAKARTA, Indonesia -- Armed forces commander Gen. Wiranto, responding to intensifying international pressure to accept foreign troops in East Timor, said on Friday that outside peacekeepers might eventually be allowed in -- but not before the army could "calm down the situation." His comments, apparently intended as a concession, did not seem likely to stem the mounting condemnation of the violence, which has cost hundreds of lives since an overwhelming majority of East Timor's people voted under U.N. supervision for independence from Indonesia.

The multinational peacekeeping force sent to East Timor reported on Wednesday that security has deteriorated since its arrival on Monday, as pro-Indonesian militiamen apparently targeted journalists and hungry East Timorese looted government-owned food warehouses. The Australian-led peacekeepers extended their control, however, landing in the territory's second-largest town, Baukau, and expanding their presence in the capital. As thousands of fearful residents returned to Dili after two weeks of hiding in the mountains, looters made off with sacks of rice, flour and cooking oil before a contingent of armed Australian peacekeepers arrived and drove them back.

Ending a failed 24-year occupation that culminated in a rampage of destruction, the last 900 Indonesian soldiers remaining on this island territory pulled down their red-and-white flag and departed from East Timor today. With a shout to the Australian harbormaster of "OK, sir, thank you, sir," the Indonesians' crowded troop ship cast off from Dili's dark and deserted harbor one hour after midnight. Their officers were seen off earlier at the airport by the people who took their place: the U.N. representative, the Australian general who heads an international peacekeeping force and Jose Alexandre Gusmao, the guerrilla chief who led a separatist war against them.

Panic seized the refugees in this mountain hideout on Tuesday morning. Soldiers were coming. Screaming and scrambling, the refugees tumbled down the hillside seeking safety. Moments later the panic turned to shouts of jubilation. The soldiers were Australian peacekeepers, not the Indonesian soldiers or the militias that people feared. Winding up the steep hills overlooking Dili, the seaside capital, the peacekeepers were escorting U.N. officials for their first look at the situation in the countryside after three weeks of violence and terror.

Bowing to intense international pressure, President B.J. Habibie said Sunday night Indonesia would allow armed foreign peacekeepers into East Timor to end a wave of killing and destruction by pro-Indonesian militias and soldiers and police. The announcement paved the way for an Australian-led peacekeeping force of up to 7,000 troops to begin operating swiftly in East Timor, possibly within days. U.S. officials said the force likely would include a small U.S. contingent, mainly to help with communications, intelligence-gathering and logistics, particularly airlifting troops from participating nations.

President Abdurrahman Wahid said on Monday that he may have to seek international assistance to halt 18 months of sectarian violence in the eastern Maluku islands, where rogue army units have taken sides in the intensifying clashes. In a statement that brought to mind last year's East Timor crisis, Wahid said he may have to call for international help if a three-week-old state of civil emergency fails to stem the violence. "I have ordered the governor [of Maluku province] to work as hard as he can to control the situation," Wahid told a meeting of regional administrators at the state palace.

President Clinton on Wednesday pressed Indonesia to clean up its human rights record, but without setting deadlines or demanding remedies that could disrupt ties with the country. Fresh from a summit with leaders of 17 Pacific rim nations, Clinton said his administration would pursue improved human rights "with conviction and without apology." But while Clinton and his lieutenants urged better treatment of ethnic minorities, journalists and labor activists, they largely left it to the Indonesians to find their way to such a goal.